We, the undersigned, citizens of Jackson
county, believing that an important crisis is at hand, as regards our civil society, in consequence of a pretended religious
sect of people that have settled, and are still settling in our county, styling themselves "Mormons;" and intending, as we
do, to rid our society, "peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must," and believing as we do, that the arm of the civil law
does not afford us a guarantee, or at least a sufficient one, against the evils which are now inflicted upon us, and seem
to be increasing, by the said religious sect, deem it expedient, and of the highest importance, to form ourselves into a company
for the better and easier accomplishment of our purpose—a purpose which we deem it almost superfluous to say, is justified
as well by the law of nature, as by the law of self-preservation.

It is more than two years since the
first of these fanatics, or knaves, (for one or the other they undoubtedly are) made their first appearance amongst us, and
pretended as they did, and now do, to hold personal communication and converse face to face with the Most High God; to receive
communications and revelations direct from heaven; to heal the sick by laying on hands; and, in short, to perform all the
wonder-working miracles wrought by the inspired Apostles and Prophets of old.

We believed them deluded fanatics, or
weak and designing knaves, and that they and their pretensions would soon pass away; but in this we were deceived. The arts
of a few designing leaders amongst them have thus far succeeded in holding them together as a society; and since the arrival
of the first of them, they have been daily increasing in numbers; and if they had been respectable citizens in society and
thus deluded, they would have been entitled to our pity rather than to our contempt and hatred; but from their appearance,
from their manners, and from their conduct since their coming among us, we have every reason to fear that, with but very few
exceptions, they were of the very dregs of that society from which they came, lazy, idle, and vicious. This we conceive is
not idle assertion, but a fact susceptible of proof, for with these few exceptions above named, they brought into our country
little or no property with them and left less behind them, and we infer that those only yoke themselves to the "Mormon" car
who had nothing earthly or heavenly to lose by the change; and we fear that if some of the leaders amongst them, had paid
the forfeit due to crime, instead of being chosen ambassadors of the Most High, they would have been inmates of solitary cells.
But their conduct here stamps their characters in their true colors. More than a year since, it was ascertained that they
had been tampering with our slaves, and endeavoring to sow dissensions and raise seditions amongst them. Of this their "Mormon"
leaders were informed, and they said they would deal with any of their members who should again in like case offend. But how
spacious are appearances. In a late number of the Star, published in Independence by the leaders of the sect, there is an article
inviting free negroes and mulattoes from other states to become "Mormons," and remove and settle among us. This exhibits them
in still more odious colors. It manifests a desire on the part of their society, to inflict on our society an injury that
they know would be to us entirely insupportable, and one of the surest means of driving us from the country; for it would
require none of the supernatural gifts that they pretend to, to see that the introduction of such a caste amongst us would
corrupt our blacks, and instigate them to bloodshed.

They openly blaspheme the Most High
God, and cast contempt on His holy religion, by pretending to receive revelations direct from heaven, by pretending to speak
unknown tongues, by direct inspiration, and by divers pretenses derogatory to God and religion, and to the utter subversion
of human reason.

They declare openly that their God hath
given them this county of land, and that sooner or later they must and will have possession of our lands for an inheritance;
and, in fine, they have conducted themselves on many other occasions, in such a manner, that we believe it a duty we owe to
ourselves, our wives, and children, to the cause of public morals, to remove them from among us, as we are not prepared to
give up our pleasant places and goodly possessions to them or to receive into the bosom of our families, as fit companions
for our wives and daughters, the degraded and corrupted free negroes and mulattoes that are now invited to settle among us.

Under such a state of things, even our
beautiful county would cease to be a desirable residence, and our situation intolerable. We, therefore, agree (that after
timely warning, and receiving an adequate compensation for what little property they cannot take with them, they refuse to
leave us in peace, as they found us—we agree to use such means as may be sufficient to remove them, and to that end
we each pledge to each other our bodily powers, our lives, fortunes and sacred honors.

We will meet at the court house, at
the town of Independence, on Saturday next, the 20th inst.,
[July], to consult on subsequent movements.